A vast majority of households contain a wide variety of potted plants within the house as well as plants utilized as decorative shrubbery on the exterior of the homes. At various times, these plants grow beyond the bounds of containment, outgrow the pot, or simply require an external source to hold them erect. Due to the overgrown size, either the root system or soil cannot maintain the potted or planted plant or tree in a vertical position. As a result they become subject to leaning or outright falling over. As a result of the size that the plants or trees achieve, the acceptable method in holding these plants in an upright vertical position has been to place a vertical piece of material (usually a wooden dowel or wide piece of wood) within the potted plant or adjacent to a plant growing on the outside of the home. The usual method is to tie the plant to the wood with string, ribbon or other cloth material. Usually the string, ribbon or cloth dry rots, cuts the plants vertical stem or no longer can hold the plant. The plant then falls over again, resulting in replacement of the wood by a larger size, or a new piece of string, ribbon or cloth material.
With larger trees, the current practice is to place a configuration of wooden boards directly on the trunk of the tree, an indeterminate distance above the soil. Joined to the boards surrounding the tree trunk, a series of longer boards are placed, usually at approximately a forty-five degree angle. Wooden stakes are then driven into the ground an indeterminate distance outward from the base of the tree trunk, wherein the longer boards are joined to the wooden stakes as a means of support to maintain the tree in a vertical manner.
At best, the measures are temporary and unsightly. In addition, they provide an inadaquate support system for the potted or planted plant or tree. Since the problem causing the plant or tree to lean is the size of the plant or tree or the texture of the soil, the placement of a section of wood adjacent to the plant and within the same textured soil can hardly solve the problem. Therefore, it stands to reason that alternative support methods must be found and utilized.